LOWER GWYNEDD — Laura Frankenfield’s lacrosse career began with a stint on a club lacrosse team in second grade and a hand-built wooden wall in her driveway.

It has grown to the recent Wissahickon High graduate becoming the girls’ program’s all-time leading goal scorer and being awarded a scholarship to Boston College.

In between, Frankenfield has been the subject of constant praise for her play, but more importantly, for her character.

“From the moment I met Laura, I was very impressed by her leadership, and the way she interacted with everyone on the team,” said Trojans first-year head coach Dave Schlesinger, who took over the Wissahickon program after a celebrated scholastic coaching career in New Jersey. “I had heard about this All-American we had on our team, so I wanted to get to know her. And what impressed me from the beginning was the way she interacted with her teammates. She treated everyone the same, from her classmates to the least experienced freshman.

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“Every kid is different. Some are full of themselves and think they’re God’s gift. And then there are players like Laura.”

Players like Laura whose playing ability, with character to match, earned her the 2013 Times Herald Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year award.

Before winning that kind of praise, however, Frankenfield had to win the battle of the wooden wall against older brother Brian.

“I guess I started with softball,” Frankenfield said, “but that was too boring for me. My older brother played lacrosse, so I wanted to do that.”

Initially, she and Brian played throw and catch off the family garage, that is, until dad smartly constructed the wooden wall.

Frankenfield, however, soon developed her own lacrosse skills, to the point where she was one of top players on a Wissahickon club team that accomplished an amazing national feat.

“We had a team of all seventh- and eighth-graders from the community and we were on this Under-15 team that wound up finishing fourth out of 50 teams at a national tournament in Maryland,” Frankenfield recalled. “We were playing against and beating club teams, and we were just kids from the same community.

“That was when I started feeling really comfortable playing lacrosse.”

Unfortunately, that team would not stick together, as most splintered off to attend area private schools such as Mount Saint Joseph and Springside Chestnut Hill.

Frankenfield initially considered transferring, too.

But then came her freshman year at Wissahickon.

By then, the Trojans had a quality lacrosse team, headed by Aubrey and Ashley Bossert and goaltender Jess Scannapieco, a team that would ultimately earn the program its first home game in the District One playoffs.

But what impressed Frankenfield, beyond her teammates’ on-the-field play, was their off-the-field willingness to make her feel welcome.

“First, Jamie Donahue was our coach, and she was fantastic,” Frankenfield said. “She continues to be one of my biggest role models.

“And then, it was a really good team to be a part of. I remember being so nervous about playing with them, but it was great. They made me feel like a part of the team from the first day.

“The whole attitude of that team was, no matter what class you were in or how much (varsity) experience you had, when you played, you played like an experienced player. You stepped up and filled that role.”

Frankenfield more than stepped up, she was a major contributor to a team that won its first playoff game before falling to eventual state-champion Radnor.

The experience of fitting in with a quality team dissuaded any further talk of a Frankenfield transfer.

“I’d considered going to the Mount,” she said “but I really liked Wissahickon and wanted to stay.”

Frankenfield’s play as a freshman did not go unnoticed. Soon, she was the subject of more praise than the food-bearer at a soup kitchen.

“When that started, there was just disbelief from me,” Frankenfield said about the sudden wave of kind words. “I thought people were just being nice.

“It’s a weird feeling when people are talking about you that way. But I’m my own worst critic. I know I can do things better, and that’s all I wanted to do, get better.”

The following year a good number of the quality players that made Frankenfield’s freshman season so memorable were gone. Still, the Trojans and Frankenfield were good enough to reach the playoffs again, losing in the first round to Springfield-Delco.

Still, by then, Frankenfield had become a more integral part of the team. And when the high praise came, she had the perfect antidote.

“I had a lot of success in our league,” she said, “but a lot of the teams we played weren’t that good. So I’d go right to playing with our club team, and that brought me back to earth. I knew, then, I still had a lot of work to do.”

Frankenfield said two things stood out in her mind about her junior year at Wissahickon.

First was welcoming a new head coach, Chelsea Rosiek, who was one of Frankenfield’s idols growing up in the Wissahickon lacrosse program.

“I knew Chelsea had the all-time scoring record in the school,” Frankenfield said, “and she was the first one to say, ‘You know you’re probably going to get my record.’

“But that wasn’t a big goal for me. I just went game to game, trying to make sure all the girls on the team were comfortable with their roles on the team and helping them when I could. (The goal record) was always on the back burner compared to making sure we were winning games.”

The second memory from Frankenfield’s junior year was a bold reminder of what would turn out to be her unfulfilled quest.

In Frankenfield’s time at Wissahickon, the team had never beaten arch-rival Upper Dublin. Frankenfield’s junior year coincided with a memorable season for the Cardinals, who were coming off a state playoff appearance the previous season, and who had virtually the same team returning. That year Wissahickon got both barrels from Upper Dublin, losing both games by the aggregate score of 34-3.

Ultimately, Frankenfield would finish her Wissahickon lacrosse career going 0-8 against the Cardinals.

“That will bother me the rest of my life,” she said.

By Frankenfield’s senior year, she had already committed to Boston College and felt no pressure to try and play beyond her abilities to impress college coaches.

Her focus was welcoming a new head coach (Schlesinger) and continuing the tradition of acclimating her young Trojans teammates into the program.

“We really didn’t get our coach until November or December,” Frankenfield said, “so my first thing was getting on the same page as him. Coming into a new situation like Coach did could have made things pretty rough, but he made it easy on us.

“My goals this year were more team-driven. I knew this was a great opportunity for other girls to step into bigger roles. I had already committed, so I didn’t have to impress anyone. I wanted to make sure the girls coming in were given the same respect I got in my freshman year. I wanted everybody to feel as comfortable as I did.”

Frankenfield accomplished her goal by talking to her teammates about anything and everything.

“I guess it comes naturally,” she said. “I’m very talkative, so I like to talk to people. I tried talking to them about what they could do better.”

Ironically, while Frankenfield spent the season focused on team goals, she achieved the ultimate individual goal.

On May 4, in a non-league, 11-5 win over Pennsbury, Frankenfield notched her 269th career goal, eclipsing Rosiek’s record total. By season’s end that total would soar to 284.

“I hadn’t told anyone because I didn’t want the extra pressure,” Frankenfield said. “But they stopped the game and brought out this big banner saying, ‘New School Record.’ It was really exciting, really cool. And some of my teammates didn’t know what was going on. (Defender) Jackie Hibbs had no idea what was happening.

“When I was a freshman, I would never have thought something like that was possible. I didn’t even know the number until Chelsea told me that day. But getting that record, and maybe being mentioned with names like (Wissahickon All-American lacrosse legends) Betsy and Julie Williams is very special to me.”

Perhaps more special is Frankenfield’s immediate future, which includes playing in the All-American Lacrosse Showcase in Disney World in late July, and then beginning classes at Boston College in late August.

“I’m really excited about playing there,” Frankenfield said. “Last year was their best season in (the program’s) history, so it’s a great time to be coming in.”

Along with getting to know head coach Acacia Walker, who was a BC assistant when Frankenfield was being recruited, the incoming frosh is looking forward to making the acquaintance of Covie Stanwick, the high-scoring All-American.

“The Stanwick family are legends in lacrosse,” Frankenfield said, “and it’s going to be great learning from her.”

Undoubtedly, Boston College will learn a few things from the incoming freshman as well.

“She’s a very special student-athlete and a very special young lady,” Schlesinger said. “And she’s the greatest lacrosse player in Wissahickon history.”